United States Government Accountability Office
Washington, DC 20548
June 13, 2008
Congressional Committees
Subject: Global War on Terrorism: Reported Obligations for the Department of Defense
Since 2001, Congress has provided the Department of Defense (DOD) with hundreds of
billions of dollars in supplemental and annual appropriations for military operations in
support of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT).1 DOD’s reported annual obligations2 for
GWOT have shown a steady increase from about $0.2 billion in fiscal year 2001 to about
$139.8 billion in fiscal year 2007. To continue GWOT operations, the President requested
$189.3 billion in appropriations for DOD in fiscal year 2008. As of May 2008, Congress has
provided DOD with about $86.8 billion of this request, including $16.8 billion for Mine
Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles. Congress has not finalized action on the remaining
$102.5 billion. In addition, the President also requested about $66 billion in appropriations
for DOD in fiscal year 2009 for GWOT, which was submitted along with DOD’s annual
budget request. The United States’ commitments to GWOT will likely involve the continued
investment of significant resources, requiring decision makers to consider difficult trade-offs
as the nation faces an increasing long-range fiscal challenge. The magnitude of future costs
will depend on several direct and indirect cost variables and, in some cases, decisions that
have not yet been made. DOD’s future costs will likely be affected by the pace and duration
of operations, the types of facilities needed to support troops overseas, redeployment plans,
and the amount of equipment to be repaired or replaced.3
DOD compiles and reports monthly and cumulative incremental obligations incurred to
support GWOT in a monthly Supplemental and Cost of War Execution Report. DOD
leadership uses this report, along with other information, to advise Congress on the costs of
the war and to formulate future GWOT budget requests. DOD reports these obligations by
appropriation, contingency operation,4 and military service or defense agency. The monthly
1
After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the President announced a Global War on Terrorism,
requiring the collective instruments of the entire federal government to counter the threat of terrorism.
Ongoing military and diplomatic operations overseas, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan, constitute a key part
of GWOT. These operations involve a wide variety of activities, such as combating insurgents, training the
military forces of other nations, and conducting small-scale reconstruction and humanitarian relief projects.
2
According to Department of Defense, Financial Management Regulation, 7000.14-R, vol. 1, ”Definitions”
(Dec. 2001), xvii, obligations are incurred through actions such as orders placed, contracts awarded, services
received, or similar transactions made by federal agencies during a given period that will require payments
during the same or a future period.
3
For more information see GAO, Securing, Stabilizing, and Rebuilding Iraq: Key Issues for Congressional
Oversight, GAO-07-308SP (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 9, 2007), and Global War on Terrorism: Observations on
Funding, Costs, and Future Commitments, GAO-06-885T (Washington, D.C.: July 18, 2006).
4
DOD defines contingency operations to include small, medium, and large-scale campaign-level military
operations, including support for peacekeeping operations, major humanitarian assistance efforts,
noncombatant evacuation operations, and international disaster relief efforts.
GAO-08-853R Global War on Terrorism
cost reports are typically compiled within the 45 days after the end of the reporting month in
which the obligations are incurred.5 DOD has prepared monthly reports on the obligations
incurred for its involvement in GWOT since fiscal year 2001.
Section 1221 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 20066 requires us to
submit quarterly updates to Congress on the costs of Operation Iraqi Freedom and
Operation Enduring Freedom based on DOD’s monthly Supplemental and Cost of War
Execution Reports. This report, which responds to this requirement, contains our analysis of
DOD’s reported obligations for military operations in support of GWOT through March 2008.
Specifically, we assessed (1) DOD’s cumulative appropriations and reported obligations for
military operations in support of GWOT and (2) DOD’s fiscal year 2008 reported obligations
through March 2008, the latest data available for GWOT by military service and
appropriation account.
Over the years, we have conducted a series of reviews examining funding and reported
obligations for military operations in support of GWOT. Our prior work7 has found the data
in DOD’s monthly Supplemental and Cost of War Execution Report to be of questionable
reliability. Consequently, we are unable to ensure that DOD’s reported obligations for GWOT
are complete, reliable, and accurate, and they therefore should be considered
approximations. Based on this work, we have made a number of recommendations to the
Secretary of Defense intended to improve the transparency and reliability of DOD’s GWOT
obligations. For example we have recommended that DOD (1) revise the cost reporting
guidance so that large amounts of reported obligations are not shown in “other”
miscellaneous categories and (2) take steps to ensure that reported GWOT obligations are
reliable. In response, DOD is taking steps to improve GWOT cost reporting. For example,
DOD has modified its guidance to more clearly define some of the cost categories and is
taking additional steps to strengthen the oversight and program management of the cost
reporting. Specifically, DOD has taken steps to improve transparency by requiring
components to analyze variances in reported obligations and to disclose reasons for
significant changes, and to affirm that monthly reported GWOT obligations provide a fair
representation of ongoing activities. Furthermore, in February 2007 DOD established a
Senior Steering Group including representatives from DOD, the Defense Finance and
Accounting Service (DFAS), and the military services in an effort to standardize and
improve the GWOT cost-reporting process and to increase management attention to the
process. DOD established a GWOT Cost-of-War Project Management Office to monitor work
performed by auditing agencies and to report possible solutions and improvements to the
Senior Steering Group. DOD has started several initiatives to improve credibility,
transparency, and timeliness. One of the initiatives is a quarterly validation of GWOT
obligation transactions at each of the DOD components with the goal of having a sampling
of all types of costs validated by the end of the fiscal year. Until all DOD efforts are more
5
Department of Defense, Financial Management Regulation, 7000.14-R, vol. 12, ch. 23. This regulation
generally establishes financial policy and procedures related to DOD contingency operations. Volume 6A,
chapter 2, and volume 3, chapter 8, of the DOD Financial Management Regulation also include provisions to
ensure the accuracy of cost reporting.
6
Pub. L. No. 109-163, § 1221(c) (2006).
7
For more information see GAO, Global War on Terrorism: DOD Needs to Improve the Reliability of Cost
Data and Provide Additional Guidance to Control Costs, GAO-05-882 (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 21, 2005), and
Global War on Terrorism: DOD Needs to Take Action to Encourage Fiscal Discipline and Optimize the Use
of Tools Intended to Improve GWOT Cost Reporting, GAO-08-68 (Washington, D.C.: Nov. 6, 2007).
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fully implemented, it is too soon to know the extent to which these changes will improve the
reliability of DOD’s cost reporting.
While establishing sound cost reporting procedures and oversight is clearly important, the
reliability of the cost-of-war reports also depends on the quality of DOD’s accounting data.
Factors contributing to DOD’s challenges in reporting reliable cost data include longstanding deficiencies in DOD’s financial management systems. We are aware that DOD has
efforts under way to improve these systems as well.
We have also made recommendations to improve transparency and fiscal responsibility
related to funding the war on terrorism, and to permit Congress and the administration to
establish priorities and make trade-offs among those priorities in defense funding.
Specifically, we recommended that DOD (1) issue guidance defining what constitutes the
“longer war against terror,” identify what costs are related to that longer war, and build
these costs into the base defense budget; (2) identify incremental costs of the ongoing
GWOT operations that can be moved into the base budget; and (3) in consultation with the
Office of Management and Budget, consider limiting emergency funding requests to truly
unforeseen or sudden events.8 We will continue to review DOD’s efforts to implement these
recommendations as part of our follow-up work on GWOT.
Scope and Methodology
To conduct our work, we analyzed applicable annual and supplemental appropriations from
fiscal year 2001 through fiscal year 2007 and for fiscal year 2008 through December 2007, the
latest GWOT appropriations provided. We also analyzed DOD’s monthly Supplemental and
Cost of War Execution Reports from September 2001 through March 2008, the latest data
available. Specifically, we identified appropriated amounts intended for GWOT and reported
GWOT obligations for each operation, military service, and appropriation account.
We are continuing to review DOD’s fiscal year 2008 funding and reported obligations,
including the reliability of the reported obligations. We are also reviewing the processes,
including models and other tools, used to estimate GWOT funding requirements. We plan to
report on this work later this year.
We conducted this performance audit from May 2008 to June 2008 in accordance with
generally accepted government auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan
and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable
basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that the
evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on
our audit objectives.
Summary
From fiscal year 2001 through fiscal year 2007, and for the first quarter of fiscal year 2008
through December 2007, Congress has provided DOD with a total of about $635.9 billion for
8
GAO-08-68.
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its efforts in support of GWOT.9 DOD has reported obligations of about $562 billion for
military operations in support of the war from fiscal year 2001 through fiscal year 2007 and
for the second quarter of fiscal year 2008 through March 2008. The $73.9 billion difference10
between DOD’s GWOT appropriations and reported obligations can generally be attributed
to certain fiscal year 2008 appropriations and multiyear funding for procurement; military
construction; and research, development, test, and evaluation from previous GWOT-related
appropriations11 that have yet to be obligated and obligations for classified and other
activities, which are not reported in DOD’s cost-of-war reports. As part of our ongoing work,
we are reviewing DOD’s rationale for reporting its GWOT related obligations.
Figure 1 shows the increase in DOD’s cumulative reported GWOT obligations and
cumulative GWOT appropriations from fiscal year 2001 through fiscal year 2007 and through
the second quarter of fiscal year 2008 (October through March 2008).
9
From fiscal year 2001 through fiscal year 2004, funding for military operations in defense of the homeland
(Operation Noble Eagle) was included in DOD’s emergency supplemental funding requests. Since fiscal year
2005, DOD has requested funding for these operations as part of its annual base budget request. Because
Congress does not appropriate funds by military operation, these amounts cannot be separately identified in
DOD’s annual base appropriation. Therefore, the $635.9 billion includes funding for Operation Noble Eagle
only from fiscal years 2001 through 2004.
10
We calculated this difference by comparing available data on appropriations and reported obligations. Since
data on appropriations for Operation Noble Eagle from fiscal year 2005 through fiscal year 2007 are
unavailable, the difference between DOD’s GWOT appropriations and reported obligations may be larger.
11
Appropriations for military personnel and operation and maintenance are usually available for 1 year, while
appropriations for research, development, test and evaluation are usually available for 2 years; procurement
funds (with the exception of shipbuilding funds, which are sometimes available longer) are usually available
for 3 years; and military construction funds are usually available for 5 years.
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GAO-08-853R Global War on Terrorism
Figure 1: DOD’s Cumulative Reported GWOT Obligations and Cumulative GWOT
Appropriations for Fiscal Years 2001 through 2007 and through the Second Quarter
of Fiscal Year 2008 (October through March 2008)
Notes: Reported GWOT obligations include Operation Noble Eagle, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom, and
generally reflect costs reported in DOD’s cost-of-war reports. However, the fiscal year 2002 and 2003 figures include about $20.1 billion
that according to DOD officials was war related but not reported in DOD’s cost-of-war reports. GAO has assessed the reliability of DOD’s
obligation data and found significant problems, such that these data may not accurately reflect the true dollar value of GWOT obligations.
Of DOD’s total cumulative reported obligations for GWOT through March 2008 (about $562
billion), about $435.1 billion is for operations in and around Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi
Freedom, and about $98.9 billion is for operations in Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa, the
Philippines, and elsewhere as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. The remaining about
$28 billion is for operations in defense of the homeland as part of Operation Noble Eagle.
As figure 2 shows, DOD’s reported obligations for Operation Iraqi Freedom have
consistently increased each fiscal year since operations began. The increases in reported
obligations for Operation Iraqi Freedom are in part due to continued costs for military
personnel, such as military pay and allowances for mobilized reservists, and for rising
operation and maintenance expenses, such as higher contract costs for housing, food, and
services and higher fuel costs. In addition, the need to repair and replace equipment because
of the harsh combat and environmental conditions in theater and the ongoing costs
associated with the surge strategy announced in January 2007, which provided for the
deployment of additional troops, have further increased obligations for Operation Iraqi
Freedom. In contrast, DOD’s reported obligations for Operation Noble Eagle have
consistently decreased since fiscal year 2003, largely because of the completion of repairs to
the Pentagon and upgrades in security at military installations that were onetime costs, as
well as a reduction in combat air patrols and in the number of reserve personnel guarding
government installations. Reported obligations for Operation Enduring Freedom have
ranged from $10.3 billion to $20.1 billion each fiscal year since 2003. Recent increases in
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GAO-08-853R Global War on Terrorism
reported obligations for Operation Enduring Freedom are in part caused by higher troop
levels in Afghanistan, the costs associated with training Afghan security forces, and the need
to repair and replace equipment after several years of ongoing operations.
Figure 2: DOD’s Reported GWOT Obligations for Fiscal Years 2001 through 2007 by
Operation
Notes: Operation Iraqi Freedom began in fiscal year 2003; therefore no obligations were reported in fiscal years 2001 and 2002 for this
operation. Reported GWOT obligations generally reflect costs reported in DOD’s cost-of-war reports. However, the fiscal year 2002 and
2003 figures include about $20.1 billion that according to DOD officials was war related but not reported in DOD’s cost-of-war reports.
GAO has assessed the reliability of DOD’s obligation data and found significant problems, such that these data may not accurately reflect
the true dollar value of GWOT obligations.
In fiscal year 2008, through March 2008, DOD’s total reported obligations of about $69.8
billion are about half of the total amount of obligations it reported for all of fiscal year 2007.
Reported obligations for Operation Iraqi Freedom continue to account for the largest
portion of total reported GWOT obligations by operation—about $57 billion. In contrast,
reported obligations associated with Operation Enduring Freedom total about $12.7 billion,
and reported obligations associated with Operation Noble Eagle total about $89.3 million.
The Army accounts for the largest portion of reported obligations for fiscal year 2008
through March 2008—about $51.7 billion, eight times higher than the almost $6.3 billion in
obligations reported for the Air Force, the military service with the next greatest reported
amount. Among appropriation accounts, operation and maintenance, which includes items
such as support for housing, food, and services; the repair of equipment; and transportation
to move people, supplies, and equipment, accounts for the largest reported obligations—
about $38.4 billion. Reported obligations for procurement account for about 21 percent of
reported obligations or about $14.5 billion. Of the $43.6 billion provided to DOD for
procurement in fiscal year 2007, approximately 22 percent, or $9.4 billion, has yet to be
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obligated and remains available in fiscal year 2008.12 Figure 3 shows DOD’s reported
obligations for fiscal year 2008 through March 2008 by DOD component and appropriation
account.
Figure 3: DOD’s Reported GWOT Obligations for Fiscal Year 2008 through March
2008, by DOD Component and Appropriation Account
Notes: Obligation figures may not add to $69.8 billion because of rounding. The “Other” portion of the appropriation account pie chart
includes programs designed to reimburse coalition countries for logistical and military support, to train and equip the Afghan National
Army and Armed Forces of Iraq and to execute the Commanders Emergency Response Program. GAO has assessed the reliability of
DOD’s obligation data and found significant problems, such that these data may not accurately reflect the true dollar value of GWOT
obligations.
Agency Comments and Our Evaluation
We requested comments from DOD, but none were provided.
-----
12
The available fiscal year 2007 procurement funding as of March 2008 reflects an increase in funding available
since our last report examining DOD’s reported obligations for GWOT—GAO, Global War on Terrorism:
Reported Obligations for the Department of Defense, GAO-08-557R (Washington, D.C.: Mar. 17, 2008).
According to DOD and Army officials, the increase in funding is due to the correction of inaccurately reported
obligations. GAO has assessed the reliability of DOD’s obligation data and found significant problems, such
that these data may not accurately reflect the true dollar value of GWOT obligations.
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GAO-08-853R Global War on Terrorism
We are sending copies of this report to interested congressional committees; the Secretary
of Defense; the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller); and the Director, Office of
Management and Budget. We will also make copies available to others upon request. In
addition, this report will be available at no charge on the GAO Web site at
http://www.gao.gov.
If you or your staff have any questions about this report, please contact me at (202) 512-9619
or pickups@gao.gov. Contact points for our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public
Affairs may be found on the last page of this report. Key contributors to this report are listed
in the enclosure.
Sharon L. Pickup
Director, Defense Capabilities and Management
Enclosure
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GAO-08-853R Global War on Terrorism
List of Committees
The Honorable Carl Levin
Chairman
The Honorable John McCain
Ranking Member
Committee on Armed Services
United States Senate
The Honorable Daniel K. Inouye
Chairman
The Honorable Ted Stevens
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Defense
Committee on Appropriations
United States Senate
The Honorable Ike Skelton
Chairman
The Honorable Duncan L. Hunter
Ranking Member
Committee on Armed Services
House of Representatives
The Honorable John P. Murtha
Chairman
The Honorable C. W. Bill Young
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Defense
Committee on Appropriations
House of Representatives
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GAO-08-853R Global War on Terrorism
Enclosure
GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments
GAO Contact
Sharon Pickup, (202) 512-9619 or pickups@gao.gov
Acknowledgments
In addition to the contact named above, Ann Borseth, Assistant
Director; Richard Geiger; Linda Keefer; Ron La Due Lake;
Deanna Laufer; Lonnie McAllister; and Eric Petersen made key
contributions to this report.
(351221)
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